Ireland’s injury crisis is far from ideal, but Declan Kidney’s side are the best placed of all the teams in the competition to win the Six Nations, writes Malcolm O’Kelly.
There was no rugby to speak of this weekend and although I did miss it, I’ve got more things on my mind at present – the birth of my first child is imminent so that’s kind of taken over at the moment, but next weekend, it’s going to be baby in one arm, remote in the other for the first round of the RBS Six Nations and I’m certainly looking forward to it all!
I think it’s going to be an incredibly tight competition this year. Scotland are a better side than they have been for years, England are a team on the way up and I can’t say I’m sure what direction France or Wales are going at the moment. Italy will certainly be stronger than they have been for a while; they will have benefitted from the introduction of Aironi and Treviso into the Magners League and the fact that plenty of their players are playing top quality matches week in, week out.
I know people will say that we should be developing players in the Six Nations, but certainly not at the expense of winning a Six Nations or even a Grand Slam.
If I was to look into my crystal ball I would take the safe option that is ‘No team will win the Grand Slam this year’. Why, you ask? Because I don’t think any team has shown the form to do so, there is no team so outstanding that I could say will put five wins back to back, an incredible feat. Where is my patriotism? Well I am tempted to say Ireland but we surely need everyone fit, I think we have arguably the best squad in the competition, a solid mix of senior experienced heads and young ambitious players all who have experience of beating the other teams. Some players with relatively minor injuries – the likes of Jamie Heaslip, Tommy Bowe, Stephen Ferris and Andrew Trimble, will feature at some stage of the competition to boost the squad again, plus the return of Paul O’Connell will add to the muscle upfront. However, this tournament is gruelling and takes its toll on every squad. We cannot afford any more injuries as it stands and as we are not even out of the blocks yet it all sounds pretty gloomy and I think that’s enough self pity. That’s rugby for you; one man’s misfortune is another’s good fortune. I have received many caps in that manner and who knows what phoenixes will rise from the ashes of this crisis?
Six Nations as important as ever
With the World Cup coming up later in the year, there’s been talk that the Six Nations loses some significance, but I wouldn’t go along with that notion. Personally, I think if I was playing in the Six Nations and putting on the Irish jersey that it wouldn’t make an ounce of difference that there’s a World Cup around the corner and I can’t imagine that Deccie or the management team would be thinking any different. I’m sure in the back of their minds they’re thinking about the World Cup, but I don’t think it’s going to have much of an effect on their preparations for the Six Nations. You have to remember that we’ve only won a Grand Slam once. I know people will say that we should be developing players in the Six Nations, but certainly not at the expense of winning a Six Nations or even a Grand Slam. England won a Grand Slam in 2003 and went on to win a World Cup off the back of that so it certainly did them no harm. You want to build up confidence and a winning mentality and the Six Nations is a great tournament to do that in, it’s a pretty exceptional tournament to be involved in and I’m sure the players and management won’t have their eyes on the World Cup until it’s over and done with.
As I’ve said, I think that Ireland can win the competition and it certainly helps that we’ve got France and England at home this year; we tend to do better in the competition when we’re in that cycle of fixtures. Saying that, Scotland are going well and it’s going to be extremely tough to go to Murrayfield and etch out a victory, but playing against Scotland is never easy. I think it would have been nice to play France first, even though now with all the injuries it’s probably a good thing that we’re playing them second. People often talk about French club sides not travelling well and the fact that we’ve only won once in the Stade de France, our chances of winning a Six Nations or a Grand Slam improve dramatically playing them at home where our stats against them are far better.
Newcomers
The injury situation in the Ireland camp at the moment is certainly far from ideal, but one man’s difficulty is another’s opportunity and at least we’ll have a chance to see if some of the newcomers are up to international standard. Of the new lads in, I’m looking forward to seeing Sean O’Brien, who’s the talk of the town at the moment and will probably start against Italy next weekend. Most people have seen him in action with Leinster and it will be interesting to see how he copes at international level where there might be fewer opportunities in a game to impress and where he’ll be coming up against a better quality of player or certainly more motivated and passionate opposition. To make the step up to international level, you have to be able to find your game on the run, work with a new unit, fit in and express yourself. You have to be ready, but Seanie will soak it all up. He deserves this chance and regardless of what number is on his back he will lead from the front.
Fergus McFadden deserves a chance with Ireland after impressing for Leinster this season
Another guy I’m looking forward to seeing in action is Fergus McFadden, who has really come on this year, adapted really well to a change of position with Leinster and taken his opportunity to impress. He has shown incredible desire to get his game up to the required standard in the last two or three seasons without getting a huge amount of game time and has forced his way into what was deemed as an impenetrable back line at Leinster. He’s asking plenty of questions of Joe Schmidt and the management team at Leinster and he will certainly give Declan Kidney plenty of food for thought. Again, like Sean, the same threats are there when making the step up to international level and we’ll have to see how Ferg will adapt to a more physical game and to the occasion as well – can he stand up to the mental challenges that come with it? Certainly, he’s shown to me anyway that he has all the qualities to do so.
Malcolm on the Irish scrum and his starting team against Italy
Scrum time
There have been question marks about the Irish scrum and as far as Italy are concerned, they’ve always taken us on in that particular area. I remember one year in Lansdowne Road at the very first kick-off, the Italians didn’t bother kicking it ten metres and just took the scrum on the halfway line. It’s always a tough battle up front against the Italians, but to be fair, every scrum in the Six Nations is going to be of a pretty high standard and how we get on in that area depends on how our front five fares out in terms of injuries and form throughout the competition. I think our front five looks solid enough and there is a decent amount of depth. I suppose tighthead is the biggest issue and in that position, another newcomer, Mike Ross, is being tipped to start against Italy. Mike has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years and I don’t think there’s an issue with his scrummaging at all. If anything, I see the scrum with Mike in it being a good weapon for us and it would be nice to see our backline get an extra bit of space thanks to a good scrum.
With Leo and Paulie in there, the pairing have plenty of experience; both are tenacious and dogged, both are professors of the lineout and I would expect Ireland to dismantle Italy’s lineout and outmuscle their maul.
Looking ahead to the Italy game, it seems to be the case that we always have to play them first, which is probably when they’re at their most dangerous. I don’t mean that to sound derogatory or anything, but at the beginning of the competition, they have the bit between their teeth and something to play for whereas sometimes further on down the Six Nations trail, their confidence can be at a lower ebb if they’ve taken a couple of beatings or they might have lost a couple of key members of their squad and wouldn’t be the same team as a result. Saying that, their commitment would never change, it’s often just a mental thing that sometimes their heart wasn’t in it as much as it might have been at the start. Regardless of what time of year you play them though, you know it’s going to be a difficult game and the fitness and endurance levels of their squad will have improved on the back of the involvement of Aironi and Treviso in the Magners League. It’s certainly not going to be an easy one this weekend.
Malcolm steps into Declan Kidney’s shoes
As far as team selection goes, if I was to play Deccie, I’d go with a back three of Luke Fitzgerald at full-back with Keith Earls and Fergus McFadden on the wings, I think the centre partnership of D’Arcy and O’Driscoll picks itself and I would go with Sexton and Eoin Reddan at half back. The scrum half slot is contentious, but I would give Reddan the opportunity to make the position his as he has the potential. I think he’s starting to play with the electricity he played with at Wasps, sniping around the ruck and putting runners like Seanie in holes or creating something out of nothing. Deccie, however, might overrule me on that one and go with the known quantity of Stringer, who can offer incredible service with incessant energy and has been revitalised this season and of course, has bundles of international experience.
Eoin Reddan can create something out of nothing
In the back row, I would go for Denis Leamy at six, with Seanie O’Brien at number eight and, controversially, Shane Jennings at seven with David Wallace on the bench for impact or to cover any injury to the three starters. I think it is a well balanced back row, with each player comfortable in their roles. They have a physical, tough edge to them, they are ambitious, all three would relish the chance to cement a long-term position in the squad and in the case of Shane Jennings; he’s certainly been one of Leinster’s unsung heroes.
In the second row, it’s a tough choice. With the return of Paulie, which of the incumbents – Mick O’Driscoll or Donncha should make way and what of the case for Leo Cullen? All three players are in good form and we are very fortunate to have such quality in that area and I would expect all of them to be capped in the series. For Italy though, my selection would be to pair Leo Cullen and Paul O’Connell; Leo is a huge leader at Leinster and obviously Paulie is a talisman for both Munster and Ireland even though he hasn’t played an awful lot of rugby of late. With Leo and Paulie in there, the pairing have plenty of experience; both are tenacious and dogged, both are professors of the lineout and I would expect Ireland to dismantle Italy’s lineout and outmuscle their maul.
Finally, in the front row, I would select Cian Healy, Rory Best and Mike Ross. Sean Cronin has obviously been putting his hand up, but Rory Best is a fine player and when you have, as will probably be the case, a lot of newcomers coming into the team, it’s great to have the experience that Rory certainly provides.
It gives me great pleasure to announce my team for the Italy game as follows:
Ireland team v Italy as selected by Malcolm O’Kelly:
15. Luke Fitzgerald
14. Keith Earls
13. Brian O’Driscoll (captain)
12. Gordon D’Arcy
11. Fergus McFadden
10. Jonathan Sexton
9. Eoin Reddan
1. Cian Healy
2. Rory Best
3. Mike Ross
4. Leo Cullen
5. Paul O’Connell
6. Denis Leamy
7. Shane Jennings
8. Sean O’Brien
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